The Owen Valley bench and coaching staff could hardly contain their excitement following a three-point bucket from senior forward Dalton Vest with just 11.5 seconds remaining to secure a season-opening win Tuesday at home. (Staff Photo) Following a defensive battle against the visiting Class 2A, ninth-ranked Thunderbirds of Eastern-Greene, the Owen Valley Patriots were more than happy to have forward Dalton Vest back for the season-opener Tuesday night inside Patriot Hall. With just 11.5 seconds remaining and the Patriots trailing 33-32, Vest nailed a three-pointer to propel Owen Valley to a 35-33 win.

“Dalton Vest, a stand-still shooter, he might be the best shooter in the gym,” OV head coach Chad Smith said of his senior forward. “It’s a thing of beauty when he steps out there and shoots it. Dalton is the kind of selfless kid that, once we got into the locker room, hooting and hollering, he says, ‘I would have never been in a situation to hit that shot to win the game if it wasn’t for Jansen Hight’s defense. That’s the kind of kids we have and the kind of team we have, the kind of atmosphere that we’re building and it feels good.”

Owen Valley senior center Jansen Hight led the Patriots with 14 points in Tuesday’s win over Eastern Greene. (Staff Photo) The Patriots fell behind early in the first quarter, but capitalized on a 7-0 run to end the period on top, 10-6. By intermission, Owen Valley was in front of the T-Birds, 19-12 with eight first half points from junior forward Josh Parker.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it never is when you play against an Andy Igel team. They’re going to make every pass difficult; every cut you try to make, they’re going to be physical and try to stop you from making it,” coach Smith said. “It was a grind, and we talked about it all week, how we’re going to respond when we’re in the grind. I can’t be more proud of how my guys responded. We showed some toughness and we’re only going to get better.”

Senior forward Dalton Vest drives toward the bucket during the Patriots’ 35-33 season-opening win inside Patriot Hall on Tuesday night. Vest finished with 11 points. (Staff Photo) Although OV allowed 10 third period points, the Patriots were still able to maintain a small advantage through three quarters to lead 26-22 heading into the final frame.

“Team defense, we talk about it everyday. We held them to 12 points in the first half... it doesn’t get any better than that,” coach Smith said. “Twelve points in a half of basketball against a topten ranked team, you’ve got to hang your hat on that. That’s just flat-out effort, that’s execution. Every time we put (JT) Yoho on the floor, we had guys there. We had guys rebounding and it was just an unbelievable effort by our kids.”

Hight scored six of OV’s nine fourth quarter points to add to his team-leading 14 points, followed by Vest with 11 and 10 from Parker.

“(Assistant coach Jared) Maners and I have been discussing it for days now, how if we get this one, we might roll out six or seven in a row,” coach Smith noted.

Owen Valley will be back on the hardwood Friday, December 2 when the Patriots begin a three-game road stint at Linton- Stockton. Junior varsity action will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by a varsity tip scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. OV will then travel to West Vigo on Saturday, December 3 to face Western Indiana Conference foe West Vigo. The OVHS girls’ varsity basketball team will begin play against the Lady Vikings at 6:00 p.m., followed by the boys’ match-up at approximately 7:30.